There is nothing darker than the woods until you meet your worst fear.

Seventeen-year-old, Jackson Bower has a lot on his mind lately. His younger brother hasn’t been the same since his mother’s death. His father’s drinking is out of control. Then there’s Jackson’s girlfriend and the grief that ties them together even as it threatens to drive them apart.

He distances himself, hoping for a little perspective at the family lodge. But when their father gets drunk and dangerous, he and his brother escape into the woods.

Night creeps in, and the rains come fast. Artie slips down a ravine. He’s wounded and the brothers seek shelter in a cave, only to find someone else already taking refuge there.

A desperate man with plans to destroy their town.

Jackson must get him and his wounded brother out of the cave and over the mountain to warn everyone in time. Without getting them both killed first.

I’ve read your fun fast-paced ride of a book, ARTIFACTS, and think it’s a superb read for the middle-grade reader, and adults who want to reminisce about their own adventurous childhood. What a caper! A Gooniesque adventure with kids getting to the bottom of a mystery that brings characters from Neverland into the fold. I’ll read anything reminiscent of the Goonies, so I can enjoy the rush of childhood again.

How did you come up with the idea for your novel?

I’ve always loved fairy tales and every version of them. (Books, Movies, the Fractured Fairy Tale cartoons. My daughter and I went to see The Little Mermaid 17 weekends in a row when it first came out. LOL) The stories I write that seem to work best are always of several friends together facing some type of a life and death adventure but no matter how dire the circumstances may be, never missing a chance to make fun of their friends. One day I thought of how cool it would be if there was something that could rewrite fairy tales. Make the bad guys good or the good guys bad. And if there was which one of the fairy tale villains would be sent to find it and once the fairy tale heroes found out, who would they send to help the kids battle against them.

What was your revision process like?

Lots of rewriting! LOL! The story itself had a lot of good things going for it but it wasn’t until it got into the capable hands of Tara Creel, my editor at Month9Books, did it start to take on real life. She laughed when it was funny and she made me make some tough decisions when it wasn’t. I really can’t thank her enough. We went through it page by page, keeping what was good and either changing or taking out what wasn’t. I made a great many changes, and then we went through it page by page again before the final draft was ready.

How much of ARTIFACTS came from your own childhood?

I think I relied heavily on my interactions with my friends for the way the Jax, Korie, Crunch, Mouth, and Tank interacted. The dialogue always felt like it was spot on and yes I did grow up with kids that were as goofy as Crunch and as wise-guy-erly (yes, I can invent that word) as Mouth. We were always going on treasure hunts “(spending time in junkyards and helping neighbors clean out there basements and garages so we could see what they had and were throwing away) and trying to find something that we were able to create a really great story behind.

Kori's the only girl in the group. Was she modeled after anyone in particular?

Korie is smart, funny, a good friend, and is willing to be as independent and as adventurous as any of the boys. Middle Grade didn’t used to have a lot of that and over the last several years it’s come to the forefront. I tend to write and like “girls that are one of the guys” which makes those passages where they aren’t just that much more special. She is modeled after my wife and my daughters, strong, independent women who have a great sense of humor, great sense of justice, are the biggest fans of the underdog, and show no fear when it comes to friends and family.

Oddest job you ever had?

I with a friend of mine in a van dropping off freshly baked bread to stores and restaurants early in the morning. Our job was usually done by 8 a.m.

Big brother, little sister, in the middle, or one and only?

I am a big brother who was waaaaay to overprotective when we were growing up. We lived in a neighborhood where everyone knew each other and much to her dismay everyone knew she was my sister. I was six foot, two hundred pounds in the sixth grade so I guess I made an impression. J She turned okay so I guess my job was done! J

Robot revolution or zombie apocalypse?

Robot Revolution, and I can’t wait for it!

Favorite writing snack?

Popcorn! My wife just got me hooked on G. H. Cretors caramel popcorn and it is amazing! It makes you write with one hand so you can eat with the other.

What were you reading when you were in middle school?

Mostly Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

The most trouble you got into with your friends at this age? Come on fess up.

Most of the trouble I got into I can’t bring up at the moment as there might still be warrants out! J I grew up in Queens, NY and it was probably very different than most other writers except for people like Gay Talese and Mario Puzo. J Probably the most trouble we got into was on Halloween when we would fill our socks with a variety of colored chalk and leave our marks on our friends, enemies, and the neighborhood. (The egging and toilet papering didn’t come until after middle school. We couldn’t afford it.) J

I started writing Middle Grade a little more than three years ago. ARTIFACTS is the first book I have published. My wife and I live in Charlotte, NC with two very needy one hundred pound sheep dogs. I am always working on a new story because there are a multitude of characters living inside my head -- battling to get out.

Subscribe To

Search This Blog

My Novella available in Paperback ~ Nook ~ Kindle ~Audible ~ iTunes

Hello!

A member of SCBWI. Contributor to @TheKidliterati ~ Mother of teens.
I can be found during daylight hours writing in the basement of a jazz club. When there's time to play, I sing and write songs or paint with watercolors and pretend I never have to grow up.